Abstract
In this paper we examine the problem of radiation from a vertical short (Hertzian) dipole above flat lossy ground, known in the literature as the ‘Sommerfeld radiation problem’. Our formulation is in the spectral domain and ends up into simple one dimensional integral expressions for the received electromagnetic (EM) field, representing the exact solution of the problem. The problem can be solved analytically in an approximate sense in the high frequency regime using the Stationary Phase Method (SPM). In this paper the above spectral integrals for the received EM field are also mathematically represented as integrals over the ‘grazing angle’, a formulation that allows for a more accurate calculation since it avoids the singularities of the integrand expression. Also, a new SPM analytical solution, based on the above novel integral representation is obtained. Numerical comparisons between our SPM solution and the integral representations for the received EM field show that neither the horizontal Transmitter–Receiver distance, nor the frequency of operation are alone sufficient indicators regarding the most appropriate method to use (SPM or Numerical Integration). Instead, such a decision is to be based on their combined effect, given by their product k•r (electric distance).DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eie.22.2.14592